Calculation of sick leave in 2021 using an online calculator

We prepared this article at the request of one of our readers. An employer should take into account a number of nuances when paying for coronavirus sick leave. How is quarantine sick leave paid for? How is sick leave calculated for coronavirus cases?

Coronavirus-related sick leave can be issued for two reasons6

• The first is the employee being in quarantine.
• The second reason is employee illness.

In this case, sick leave is issued for the period of illness of the employee, the first three days are paid at the expense of the Social Insurance Fund, the remaining days of illness at the expense of the employer.

How to apply for sick leave

The certificate of incapacity for work confirms that the person was absent from the workplace for a valid reason.
Based on sick leave, the employer accrues benefits for temporary disability or pregnancy and childbirth. Sick leave certificates are issued by medical institutions that have the appropriate license.

The ballot can be issued in one of two ways:

1. On paper.
2. Electronically (with the written consent of the insured person, that is, the employee).

When filling out a sick leave certificate on paper, you must follow the rules set out in the Issuance Procedure, approved by Order of the Ministry of Health dated September 1, 2020 No. 925n (hereinafter referred to as Procedure No. 925n). All letters must be capitalized and printed, the pen must be gel, capillary or fountain pen, the ink must be black, etc.

Doctors create an electronic certificate of incapacity for work (ELN) in the unified integrated information system “Social Insurance” online. The person is given not the ballot itself, but a coupon with an ELN number, without a signature or seal.

Next, the employee informs the employer of this number, the accountant finds the electronic newsletter in the system and pays for it.

Work with electronic sick leave according to new rules

IMPORTANT. To work with electronic electronic signature, an organization must complete the following steps: enter into an appropriate agreement with the regional office of the Social Insurance Fund, purchase an enhanced qualified electronic signature and install the necessary software. This is a right, not an obligation of the company. If management refuses to take these actions, there will be no fine. In this case, the medical institution is obliged to cancel the electronic newsletter and replace it with a paper one.

Receive an enhanced qualified electronic signature certificate in an hour

Filling out a sick leave certificate

The sick leave form was approved by order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development dated April 26, 2011 No. 347n. It consists of two sections.

The first section is filled out by the doctor. If he made a mistake on a paper ballot, corrections cannot be made. Instead, you need to issue another copy by checking the “duplicate” box.

The accountant needs to carefully check the certificate of incapacity for work for violations committed by doctors: filling it out in blue ink, missing the doctor’s name, etc. Most often, such flaws serve as a reason for FSS employees to refuse reimbursement of benefits costs. True, arbitration practice is positive for policyholders. Judges usually decide that the fund is obliged to reimburse benefits for shortcomings in the ballot.

REFERENCE. In the electronic LN, the place of work and type of employment (main or part-time) are not indicated. This follows from paragraph 65 of Order No. 925n.

You should also make sure that the paper sick leave certificate is genuine. This can be done using the FSS website, where the list of stolen and lost forms of certificates of incapacity for work is regularly updated.

The second section is filled out by the employer. If he makes a mistake, there is no need to write out a duplicate. It is enough to cross out the incorrect entry and make the correct one on the back, confirming it with the words “Believe the Corrected”, signature and seal. The use of corrective agents is prohibited.

Calculation of average earnings for sick leave in 2021

The rules for calculating sick leave are set out in the Regulations on the specifics of the procedure for calculating benefits for temporary disability and pregnancy and childbirth (approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated June 15, 2007 No. 375). To correctly calculate benefits, you first need to calculate the employee's average earnings. To do this you will need to perform a number of actions.

Determine the billing period

As a general rule, the calculation period includes two calendar years preceding the year in which the illness occurred or maternity leave began. For a ballot opened in 2021, the calculation period is 2021 and 2021.

An exception is provided for women who were on maternity leave or maternity leave during the billing period. They are allowed to carry forward one or two years. The basis is a written statement from the employee.

Example 1.

Let's say an employee gets sick in February 2021. The calculation period for it is the period of time from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 inclusive. But since the woman was on maternity leave in 2021, and on maternity leave in 2021, she wrote a request for a transfer. As a result, the new calculation period included the years 2021 and 2021.

Calculate average earnings

It consists of the amounts that the employee received in the billing period and from which contributions to compulsory social insurance were transferred.

Calculate your salary and benefits taking into account the annual increase in the minimum wage Calculate for free

Compare with the maximum permissible base value

The average earnings for calculating benefits cannot be as large as desired. It can be taken into account only in the part that does not exceed the maximum value of the base for contributions in case of temporary disability and in connection with maternity. This value is approved by the Government of the Russian Federation every year.

IMPORTANT. It is necessary to compare the average earnings in the billing period with the base limits in force at that time. It is necessary to compare not the total figure, but data for each year separately (example in Table 1).

Table 1

An example of comparing average earnings with the base limits

Compare with minimum wage

Average earnings must be greater than or equal to the minimum wage that was in effect on the date of the onset of illness or maternity leave. Otherwise, the benefit should be calculated based on the minimum wage.

The FSS, in letter dated 03/01/11 No. 14-03-18/05-2129, recommends comparing two values ​​of average daily earnings: actual and based on the minimum wage. You need to do the following:

1. Divide actual average earnings by 730 days.
2. The minimum wage on the date of onset of illness or maternity leave is multiplied by 24 months and divided by 730 days.
3. If the first value is greater than or equal to the second, calculate sick leave based on the first value. If the first value is less than the second, calculate the benefit based on the second value (example in Table 2).

table 2

An example of comparing two values ​​of average daily earnings (actual and based on the minimum wage)

REFERENCE. In some cases, the benefit cannot exceed the minimum wage for a full calendar month, multiplied by the regional coefficient (if any), even if the actual average earnings exceed the minimum wage. This rule applies in the following situations: the employee’s insurance period is less than 6 months; the patient violated the regime prescribed by the doctor, or did not show up for examination, etc.

Find average daily earnings

For temporary disability benefits, in the general case, it is equal to the average earnings for the billing period (taking into account the maximum value of the base), divided by 730 days.

For maternity benefit (BIR) it is generally a fraction. The numerator is the average earnings for the billing period (taking into account the maximum value of the base). The denominator is the number of calendar days in the billing period minus the number of calendar days falling within the excluded period.

The excluded period includes days of illness, maternity leave, maternity leave for children up to one and a half years old, and days when a woman was released from work according to Russian laws with full or partial retention of wages (if contributions were not paid from the payments in case of temporary disability and in connection with motherhood).

Example 2 . The average salary of an employee in the billing period is 950,000 rubles, the base limit has not been exceeded. The number of calendar days of the billing period is 730. Of these, the employee was on sick leave for 20 calendar days (excluded period). The average daily earnings is 1,338.03 rubles (950,000 rubles: (730 days - 20 days)).

If the benefit is calculated based on the minimum wage, then the average daily earnings are equal to the minimum wage (as of the start date of the bulletin), multiplied by 24 months and divided by 730 days. For part-time work, a coefficient corresponding to the length of working time is added to the formula.

Percentage of length of service when calculating sick leave

When calculating temporary disability benefits, the average daily earnings must be multiplied by the percentage of length of service:

• if the experience is less than 5 years - by 60%;
• if the experience is from 5 to 8 years - by 80%;
• if the experience is 8 years or more - 100%.

REFERENCE. The length of service is determined by the work book (paper or electronic). If it is not there, use employment contracts and certificates from previous places of work. This is stated in paragraph 9 of the Rules for calculating and confirming insurance experience (approved by order of the Ministry of Labor dated 09.09.20 No. 585n).

When paying BIR benefits, the average daily earnings are always multiplied by 100%.

Rules and procedure for calculating sick leave in 2021

The amount of the benefit is equal to the average daily earnings (taking into account the percentage of length of service) multiplied by the number of calendar days of illness according to the certificate of incapacity for work. If the bulletin was issued in connection with pregnancy and childbirth, then the number of calendar days of sick leave is generally 140.

From April 2021, an additional restriction applies. It applies to a situation where temporary disability benefits, calculated on the basis of average daily earnings and work experience, calculated for a full calendar month do not reach the minimum wage (in 2021 it is equal to 12,792 rubles). Then sick leave should be paid in the amount of the minimum wage for a full calendar month. In this case, the amount of the daily benefit is equal to the minimum wage divided by the number of calendar days of the month in which the illness occurs. The total benefit is the daily benefit multiplied by the number of calendar days of sickness in each calendar month. If a regional coefficient is introduced, then the minimum wage is determined taking into account this coefficient (for more details, see: “Sick leave in 2021: the temporary procedure for calculating benefits was made permanent”).

By law, the employer is obliged to independently calculate the full amount of benefits and reflect it in the second section of the sick leave.

Then you need to divide the benefit into two parts: at the expense of the employer and at the expense of the Social Insurance Fund. The following rule applies here: in case of illness or injury, the organization pays for the first three days of the newsletter, the remaining days are paid for by the fund. In case of BIR, quarantine and in a number of other cases, the FSS pays for all days (Article 3 of the Federal Law of December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ).

Both parts of the benefit are reflected in the newsletter.

IMPORTANT. Both parts of the benefit should be entered on the sick leave in full, that is, before deduction of personal income tax. In the same way, you need to fill out the line “TOTAL accrued”.

Calculate salary and personal income tax with standard deductions in the web service

Results

The accrual of sick leave in 2021 has not undergone significant changes: the accountant needs, as before, to know the employee’s SDZ, length of service, and number of sick days. However, there are nuances in paying sick leave to an employee who was injured at work or to a woman who was recently on maternity leave.

For information on calculating sick leave after maternity leave, read the article “How to calculate sick leave after maternity leave?”
Find out how to pay sick leave for a domestic injury here. You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.

Minimum and maximum disability benefits in 2021

The maximum average daily earnings is RUB 2,434.25 ((RUB 865,000 + RUB 912,000): 730 days).

The maximum benefit for BIR in the general case is 340,795 rubles ((865,000 rubles + 912,000 rubles): 730 days × 140 days).

Temporary disability benefit, calculated based on the minimum wage (provided that the work experience is more than 8 years) - 420.56 rubles. per day (RUB 12,792 × 24 months: 730 days).

The BIR benefit, calculated based on the minimum wage in the general case, is 58,878.4 rubles (12,792 rubles × 24 months: 730 days × 140 days).

Temporary disability benefit based on the minimum wage for a full month:

in April, June, September, November - 426.4 rubles. per day (RUB 12,792: 30 cal days);

in January, March, May, July, August, October, December - 412.65 rubles. per day (RUB 12,792: 31 cal days);

in February - 456.86 rubles. per day (RUB 12,792: 28 cal days).

Everything is very difficult! Can I have an example of the calculation?

Let's say you caught a cold and were sick for 12 days. You have 10 years of insurance experience, income for 2021 amounted to 854,000 rubles, for 2019 - 739,000 rubles.

For 2021, only 815,000 of your earnings will be taken into account: the rest exceeds the contribution limit to the Social Insurance Fund. For 2021 - the entire amount, because the limit here is greater than your actual income.

Your accounted profit is higher than the minimum wage, which means we don’t take it into account. More than 8 years of insurance experience means 100% of the average daily earnings are paid.

According to the formula, you are supposed to:

(815,000 rubles + 739,000 rubles) ∶ 730 days × 100% = 2,128.77 rubles per day

Total sick leave will be:

2,128.77 rubles per day × 12 days = 26,193.24 rubles

Another option: you were sick for 8 days. You have 3 years of insurance experience, in 2018 you received 120,000 rubles, in 2019 - 124,000 rubles.

(120,000 rubles + 124,000 rubles) ∶ 730 days × 60% = 200.55 rubles per day

But this is less than the minimum wage calculation. This means that you will be paid at a rate of 398.79 rubles per day and the total will be 3,190.32 rubles.

Note that some regions have their own coefficients for the minimum wage. And if, for example, the minimum wage applies to a coefficient of 50%, then they will pay one and a half times more (100% of the minimum wage, like everyone else, and another 50% on top).

Examples of calculations

Example 3

The employee was sick from November 1 to November 11, 2021, and was in the hospital. On November 6, he violated the regime, and the doctor made a note about this on the sick leave. The period from November 6 to November 11 was paid based on the minimum wage.

The employee's length of service is 13 years, the actual average daily earnings are 1,900 rubles.

The accountant calculated the allowance:

• for the period from November 1 to November 5 - 9,500 rubles (1,900 rubles × 5 days);
• for the period from November 6 to 11 - 2,558.4 rubles (426.4 rubles × 6 days).

The total benefit amounted to 12,058.4 rubles (9,500 + 2,558.4).

Example 4

The woman brought a certificate of incapacity for work according to the BIR to the accounting department. The start of maternity leave is November 18, 2021. As of this date, the insurance period is 5 months.

The accountant calculated the allowance based on the minimum wage in the amount of 58,878.4 rubles.

Limitation of the paid period

There are exceptions when not all sick days are paid. One of them is provided for people working under a fixed-term employment contract concluded for less than six months. In general, benefits can be accrued to such employees for no more than 75 calendar days under this agreement.

There are exceptions for people who have taken out a ballot to care for relatives. For example, when caring for a child from 7 to 15 years old, one sick leave is paid for no more than 15 calendar days, and in total for a year it is allowed to pay no more than 45 calendar days (Article 6 of Law No. 255-FZ).

What if I’m not sick, but just sitting in quarantine?

Illustration: Olga Selepina / Lifehacker
In this case, sick leave is opened to representatives of the following categories:

1. People who came to Russia from countries where cases of the new coronavirus infection have been registered.
2. FSS insured who live with people from point 1.

The benefit is calculated according to general rules. For persons from the first category, an application and photos of documents confirming a trip abroad are required. You can apply for sick leave online on the FSS website. Muscovites can also do this on Mos.ru.

Sick leave is also issued over the phone. You need to call the clinic you are assigned to or the hotline in your region. If you test positive for COVID‑19, you will automatically be given sick leave for 14 days - even if you feel excellent.

In addition, if your child attended a kindergarten that was closed for quarantine, you can apply for sick leave to care for your baby while he is at home. The calculation of the amount here is the same as for caring for sick children. But the quarantine period is not included in those 60 days, beyond which benefits are no longer paid.

Deadlines for sick pay in 2021

After an employee brings a certificate of incapacity for work (or an ELN coupon) to the accounting department, the employer is obliged to assign benefits within 10 calendar days. It must be paid on the day following the accrual of sick leave, established for the payment of wages. This is stated in Part 1 of Article 15 of Law No. 255-FZ.

Starting in 2021, the following system will be introduced in all regions. The employee receives temporary disability benefits for the first 3 days from the employer, for all other days - directly from the Social Insurance Fund. The BIR benefit in full is directly from the FSS (see “Starting from 2021, in all regions of Russia, benefits will be paid directly from the FSS”).

What should I do if I quit my job and immediately got sick?

Incredibly, even former employees are entitled to paid sick leave! If you come down with a cold, injury, whatever, within 30 days of leaving your job, you are entitled to sick pay. And the reason for dismissal does not matter. Even if you lost your job due to staff reduction, having received all the compensation due, you should still be paid sick leave. And it is not at all necessary that you close it within these 30 days. True, the amount of compensation here is fixed: 60% of your average daily earnings, but not less than the minimum wage (in terms of the period of illness).